After another wonderful evening in Inverness, relaxing after seeing Eilean Donan Castle and the Isle of Skye, we headed the next day up to Orkney Island! That is way up there!! The Orkney Islands sit just north of the mainland of Scotland and have a population of just over 20,000 people. It is made up of about 70 islands, only 20 of which are inhabited. There are miles and miles of fields with grazing cattle and sheep. We were expecting this to be a rather cold climate, being so far north, but were pleasantly surprised that it was a very mild, sunny day. I'd guess the temperature by mid-day was in the high 60's to mid 70's. What was cold was the ferry boat we took over to the island, with the wind blowing off the North Sea. These islands have a very rich and ancient history, and worth looking up and reading more about! Once again, we went on a tour bus to get there and back. I would love to go back again some day and really have time to explore and visit more of the historical locations on my own. Our tour was of the mainland, traveling by bus across the bridges that connected the other two islands to the mainland. (refer to map for reference)
Map of where Orkney Islands are in relation to the rest of Scotland: map
Leaving Inverness, our tour bus took us to John O'Groats center where we met the ferry. There at the harbour point was a snack stand, a souvenir shop and an Inn for people that would be staying the night.
Once we crossed the North Sea, we got on another tour bus and were taken to the charming village of Kirkwall where we had time to walk through the streets and eat lunch. Then we climbed back onto our bus and went to Skara Brae.
History of Skara Brae link
Skara Brae is an ancient, historic village, (Older than Stonehenge)built underground. After touring Skara Brae, we went over to the house that was owned by the person who discovered these ruins. The village was occupied between 3200 BC - 2200 BC. Imagine that! What a find! Due to a huge storm that washed off the grass covered mounds, some of this ruin was discovered, in the late 1800's by William Watt. Discovery of Skara Brae link. It sits on the western coast of the mainland of Orkney in what is known as The Bay of Skaill.
More was discovered in the 1920's - 1930's...so, that is what I mean by 'recently'.
Here is a link for some more information: Orkney Isand information and history
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| One of the bridges we crossed over to get to the mainland from the smaller island where we docked. |
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| A sunken ship from WWII |
Beautiful homes along the road to Kirkwall
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| Lunch time in Kirkwall |
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| St. Magnus Cathedral Britain's most northerly cathedral link Built in 1137 by the Vikings |
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| The museum of Skara Brae showing some of the relics found during excavation |
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| Before we got to the actual Skara Brae site, there was a replica of house #7 showing what the homes would have looked like. The next few pictures are showing this model |
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| A timeline cut out of stone to visualize how much has happened since the people of Skara Brae occupied this area. This site is older than Stonehenge! |
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| Notice how close to the sea this village was. Easy to see how a storm could wash away mounds of grass. |
The house where the person lived who found Skara Brae ruins.
After leaving Skara Brae, we journeyed on to Stones of Stenness then on to a beautiful chapel with quite a history! I hope you enjoyed this look back into the past and the sites of Orkney. Next post coming soon....Stones of Stenness.....another very recent find and older than Stonehenge!
